Following the successful release of her debut EP “Aura”, Mississauga Music’s Best New Solo Artist of 2020, Mississauga Music’s Fan Choice of 2021 and Dropout Entertainment’s winner of the Best Pop Video of 2020, Dani Kristina has established her sound as an up and coming pop artist. From dancy pop anthems to moody, emotional ballads, Dani Kristina has a little bit of everything for every listener.
Just like Taylor Swift, Lennon Stella, Halsey, and countless other inspirations, Dani knows how to write bangers. Through the process of writing over 600 songs as a teenager and training as a classical pianist and vocalist, she has found her niche. Dani is a confident, mature, creative, and open-minded artist with diverse musical roots which allow her to experiment with complex harmonies within her songwriting. Growing up around Toronto, Ontario, she’s spent her whole life taking in diverse soundscapes, curating her own unique sound, and experimenting with different styles.
How would you describe your music?
The way I would best describe my music is multifaceted. I don’t like limiting myself at all when I’m writing and creating, and so listening to my music really reflects that quality. Occasionally my songs are upbeat and lighthearted, but other times I really reach deep into my feelings and bring forth a ballad.
When did you start writing music?
I started writing music at 5 years old, it was an instrumental piece that I wrote for my music school at the time. At 6, I wrote my first song with lyrics.
What inspires your writing? Do you draw inspiration from poems, music, TV, or other media?
I’m very inspired by the human experience, specifically the nuances of morality and the different ways that heartbreak manifests. I’m a storyteller, and so love to express these little details through my music. Writing about personal experiences is often more vulnerable, and so I get inspired by things I’ve gone through, using my music to make sense of the feelings I had at a particular time.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
The music I typically create is genre-fluid and reflective. It expresses my feelings about my past experiences and serves as a soundtrack to various moments in my life.
What does your music say about you?
My music is a reflection of my life experiences, and so each song I release tells a little bit about who I am. Some songs of mine reflect on who I strive to be, while others examine the mistakes of my past. I really like offering up a little bit about myself through every release and enjoy being vulnerable with my audience.
When you create music, what is your personal purpose or goal?
Creating music is something I have to do. It fulfills me and gives my day to day life purpose, as it allows me to make sense of the world around me. My personal goal is to make my listeners feel something, even if my music just impacts one person.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
The industry is changing every day, and I think that the pressure on artists to do so much all at once that it takes away from the actual art. These days, artists need to take on so many different roles in order to have their music heard, and this dedication to time-consuming tasks minimizes the available time to actually create.
What are your ambitions as a songwriter and musician from here?
The past year leading up to the release of “I Won’t Know” has been really transformative for me. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my goals with my art, and I’ve begun to redefine what success means to me. I’ve decided to let go of a lot of the pressures I’ve experienced as an artist, and am now finding success in the authenticity of my music.
What has been the most challenging aspect of your current releases?
I think for most artists in this day and age, there is this intense pressure for our music to perform well, and it’s really easy to get caught up in the numbers and statistics available to us. For me, since I’ve been creating music for such a long time, the most challenging aspect of my last few releases has been comparing myself to other artists and creatives. I always feel like I could be doing more, and so it does affect my confidence in my own art from time to time.
What is the most useless talent you have?
I’m a HUGE Harry Potter fan, which means that I’ve watched those movies and read the books countless times. So my most useless talent is probably that I can recite the Harry Potter movie scripts without looking at the screen when I’m watching them.
What makes you nostalgic?
I love those Spotify rewind playlists that Spotify makes for you. I find that when I come across songs from my younger days, I actually find myself reliving the exact moments when I fell in love with those songs. My memories of those days become so vivid, and it’s probably the most nostalgic I ever feel.
If you could change anything about yourself what would it be?
Definitely my procrastination tendencies. From time to time I get paralyzed by the number of things on my to do list, and instead of attacking them one by one, I tend to put them off until my list grows super long.
If you could learn any language fluently what would it be?
Ooh! This is an easy one, I’ve always been obsessed with Celtic culture, so definitely something like Irish Gaelic.
If you were talking to a younger version of you, what advice would you give yourself?
Take the risk. Better to deal with consequences than live with what ifs.
Dani releases her new acoustic-pop single entitled “I Won’t Know”‘
Inspired by personal experiences and lost love, “I Won’t Know” reflects on the aftermath of a broken relationship, the lingering feelings, and coping with loneliness. Produced by Grammy-nominee Trevor James Anderson and written by Dani Kristina, the new single is a bittersweet track reminiscent of Adele and LÉON, capturing the sadness of its lyrics.
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